Phish Returns To Post-Hiatus Stage Setup

Phish’s 30th year kicks off tonight at Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion in Bangor, Maine and fans will immediately notice a big change. Rolling Stone recently spoke with Phish front man Trey Anastasio about the tour and Big Red revealed the quartet will change their stage setup. This will mark fourth big stage setup switch for the band since they started hitting big venues in the early ’90s. In this latest change, which reverts to the setup Phish used in 2003 and 2004, drummer Jon Fishman moves to the back of the stage while from left-to-right (while looking at the stage) it goes Page, Trey and Mike.

[Photo by Matt Hebert]

From the early ’90s through 1998 and again upon the band’s return in 2009 through this past New Year’s Run, Phish has employed the four-across setup for which they are best known. In 1999, the band switched it up and moved Fishman to the back with Mike up front in the middle surrounded by Page and Trey. Then, when Phish returned from a hiatus in 2003, Mike and Trey switched places which seems to be the setup they’ll use this tour as seen in this video which surfaced from a rehearsal…

Anastasio explained the switch to Rolling Stone, “At least where I stand, we won’t need to put any of the other instruments in monitors. We moved the drums into the middle because I had drums coming through the monitors. The idea was to get a clear-as-possible sound of the other three guys, because when we’re playing, I listen to them as much as possible. The other 50 percent of the time, I’m listening to the room.” We’ll have a full report on the show, including The Skinny, over at JamBase this evening.